Detroit Pistons point forward was benched for most of the second half against the Utah Jazz on Friday night
Throughout much of the 2025-26 regular season, the Detroit Pistons have run teams out of the gym with their suffocating defensive structure on the way to a first place position in the Eastern Conference. But on Friday night against the Jazz, the Pistons’ defense was the weak spot in what was a heartbreaking 131-129 road loss, halting Detroit’s attempt for a four-game winning streak right in its tracks.
During the third quarter against Utah, the Pistons let up 44 points and were ultimately unable to recover. Lauri Markkanen and Keyonte George both logged at least 30 points, and Detroit had an unusual defensive breakdown in the crucial moments of the road contest.
After halftime, Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff made an alteration to the Detroit rotation and subsequently removed Ausar Thompson from the game, a questionable move considering how effective the perimeter defender has been this season. According to Hunter Patterson of The Athletic, Thompson only logged four minutes in that fateful frame after halftime, and he was noticeably absent during the fourth quarter as well.
“At that point in time, I was hunting for lineups that were going to compete on the defensive end of the floor, so I was giving guys an opportunity,” Bickerstaff said. “We know how important Ausar is to us, but after giving up a 44-point quarter I was hunting for a group that would do the things that we needed to get done. But it’s an anomaly– we know how important AT is to us, and I don’t expect his minutes to range like that again.”
According to BBall Index on X, Thompson grades out as an elite defender at the point of attack, which is the defensive position he’s assumed for most of the year. Oftentimes, Bickerstaff has deployed the dynamic point forward as the first wave of the Pistons’ defense against the opposing team’s point guard, thereby stifling their main ball handler and disrupting his rhythm all game long.
Rather than follow a similar script on the road in Utah, Thompson watched his teammates close out the final moments of a tough loss against the Jazz, which featured a Keyonte George floater in the lane that Thompson likely would have factored in had he not been benched earlier in the contest.
Now, Bickerstaff mentioned that Thompson is going to resume his usual spot in the lineup soon enough, so his lack of minutes in the last game is not indicative of a broader shift in the rotation. Still, the final sequence from the Jazz’s dramatic victory does look like a possession that Thompson could have impacted if he were on the floor.
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